Home

We're done! We played our last round today at the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews. It was quite an experience and one that we will remember for quite some time. It certainly had the butterflies going full force for both of us teeing off on the first hole. We were paired with a husband and wife from Germany, Henne and Isabella. Both were very personable and we got along great.

We will be flying out of Glasgow at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning on our way home. We will be leaving St. Andrews at 5:30 AM to make the drive down to Glasgow, so this will be a quick post. We had a really great time on this trip and hope you enjoyed following along with us.

Miscellaneous

To the left is a picture of something we saw thousand of times in Scotland - stone walls. They are literally everywhere. Through fields, around houses, and along roads. A fair percentage of roads are bordered by a stone wall, sometimes only a foot or two away from the asphalt. One thing that you do not have alongside many roads is a shoulder. Many roads have a stone wall, or bank that comes right to the edge of the road, with perhaps 6" of space between the road and the bank. It's like driving in road construction all the time where you have a concrete barrier on your left and oncoming traffic on the right.

Today we played the New Course at St. Andrews. It's called the New Course since it was the second course built at St. Andrews. The old course has been around since the 1400's, but when the second course was constructed in 1895, it naturally became known as the "New" course and the existing course became the "Old" course. A neat experience today was getting to watch the end of a ladies amateur competition called the St. Rule Trophy. It attracts the top women amateurs in the UK and the world. We saw golfers from North Korea, Wales, UK, Austraila, England and Scotland. There was a three way playoff for the title, and we followed the action up the 18th hole and watched the winner hole a 10- 12 foot birdie putt for the title.

Tomorrow we will tee it up on the Old Course at 4:00 PM.

More miscellaneous pictures:
Road to Ford. We actually drove up this road for a ways but never found Ford. Funny story though - when we stopped to turn around, a workhorse in the field across the road walked up, opened the gate and trotted up to us. We could not shoo him back into the field, so we left him there by the road. He didn't seem concerned about being out. Note the requisite stone wall.






Funny sign in Crail. The sign referred to somebody allowing their dog to poop on the sidewalk and leaving it. The sign asks "Did your dog do it?" Clean it up!

We didn't get a picture of it, but the restaurant we ate at it South End on Kintyre had a sign that said "Behave appropriately or you could be thrown out of every bar in town" Of course it was the only bar in town....

Another sign on Kintyre in front of an elementary school (actually a big banner) read "Parking in front of the school is dangerous and selfish". Never see that in America, too blunt and to the point.






The sign read Shiskine - 5 1/2 miles. We were going there, but decided not to take this particular road! Again, note rock wall. They are everywhere!

Cruden, Crail, and St. Andrews

On Friday we left Dornoch and made the 3 1/2 hour trip down to Cruden Bay. Cruden Bay was one of those "you can't get there from here" destinations from Dornoch, but after many a winding road, we pulled into the clubhouse about 11:30 AM. We had lunch there and played the course in the afternoon, checked into our B&B for the night, had dinner, and since our green fees were good for the entire day, we went back and played 9 more holes in the evening. The course at Cruden Bay is set amongst giant sand dunes and several holes play right along the ocean. It is a unique course and was well worth playing. I don't have many good pictures from Cruden Bay as I left the camera in the car, so all I have are ones I took with my phone.

We spent the night at Erroll Schoolhouse Bed & Breakfast (pictured left), which was very nice. For breakfast this morning, we had a selection of homemade breads and muffins, cheeses, yogurt, cereal, smoked salmon on cucumber slices, brie, oatcakes, fruit, homemade jams & honey, and coffee/tea. This was one of our favorite meals since we arrived in Scotland. It was a refreshing change from the normal breakfast and we ate way too much!

After breakfast, we headed south through Aberdeen and down the coast to St. Andrews. I should mention here that once we arrived in Cruden Bay and for the trip down, the terrain has flattened out considerably and we were in farm country for most of the trip. The majority of the farming (with the exception of sheep) in Scotland appears to happen on the east coast. There are many bright yellow fields which we believe is mustard, along with other planted crops that are just beginning to grow. The weather has also taken a turn for the better and we got up into the 50's for the first time since we left Kintyre on Tuesday morning. The temperatures in Dornoch remained in the 40's the entire time we were there.

We arrived in St. Andrews around 11:00 AM and stopped at the Old Course to watch a few groups go off the first tee. An oddity about the Old Course is that it is essentially a public park and there are paths that cross the course that go down to the beach. There are people crossing the fairways while golfers play, and others wandering the 18th fairway getting their pictures taken on the Swilcan Bridge before any golfers come through. Note in the picture of the 1st and 18th fairways the truck driving through and people walking across the fairways. Very different than what we normally see in the US. After walking around the 17th green (Road Hole for you golfers), we headed over and checked in to our lodging for the next three days at Nethan House. Nethan House is very nice and easily the most spacious quarters we have had during the trip.

We then headed down the coast about 15 minutes to the East Neuk of Fife to the small town of Crail. Crail is an old town with a harbor where you can get a lobster cooked for you right on the dock. The harbor is completely enclosed with a block wall for protection from the winter storms. After wandering around for 1/2 hour or so, we drove over to the home of the Crail Golfing Society, the Balcomie Links. Crail is the worlds 7th oldest golf club and the course itself has been around since 1895 Like most of the courses we have played on this trip, the course was designed by Old Tom Morris, who must have designed the majority of the courses in Scotland, because every brochure we pick up touts the fact that he designed the course.

The course itself sits right along the Firth of Forth and is very scenic. The weather was nice today, mid 50's and sunny, with a stiff breeze blowing in off of the sea. We enjoyed the round at Crail even though we did not play particularly well. I think too many rounds of golf in too few days are starting to catch up with us. Luckily, we can rest a bit tomorrow as we only have one round scheduled for 12:00 at the New Course at St. Andrews. Monday afternoon we will tackle the Old Course.

Dunrobin Castle

Today we played our scheduled round at Royal Dornoch Golf Club. Golf has been played here since as far back as 1616, when the first account is found in the public record at Dornoch. The course is very picturesque and is known as one of the more difficult courses in Scotland due to the gorse, plateau greens, and pot bunkers. We were paired with another single golfer and his caddy. As it turned out, he was born and raised in Fayetteville and Hinton, but now lives in Wilminton, NC. His caddy was a former club champion at Royal Dornoch named Hamish Sutherland. Both were extremely pleasant and we enjoyed the round with them.

After a late lunch at the clubhouse, we headed over to Golspie to Dunrobin Castle. The castle sits on a hill overlooking the Dornoch Firth and was largely constructed in the 16th and 17th centuries, with extensive renovations in 1845. The Sutherland clan had a castle on the site since sometime in the 1200's. We arrived too late for the tour, but did walk around the grounds and the gardens, which are very impressive. We will leave tomorrow morning (Friday) for a 3 1/2 hour trip down to Cruden Bay and a round of golf at the Cruden Bay Golf Club.

North to Dornoch

On Tuesday we left Campbeltown and headed north along the coast, with views over to Islay (pronounced Eye-la) and Gigha. This was a 6 hour drive north to the town of Dornoch in the Highlands region of Scotland. Another beautiful drive that took us up along the coast, along several lochs, including Loch Ness (above) and through the mountains. The mountains near Dornoch have snow on them still, even though they aren't quite as high as the mountains in West Virginia, testament to how cold it is up here. Upon arrival at Amalfi guest house, we put our golf bags on our shoulders and walked over the Royal Dornoch Golf Club, which is about 300 yards from Amalfi. We were able to get a 6:45 tee time on the Championship course for a twilight rate of $40 pounds. The course was full and we waited a little on the groups ahead, but finished right before dark at 10:45 PM. Royal Dornoch is a great course, very different from Machrihanish. Plateau greens with shaved sides are the norm here, including the great 14th hole "Foxy", which has a plateau which varies from 5 -10 feet, nearly straight up.

On Wednesday, we made the 20 minute drive north the Brora Golf Club in the town of Brora. Along the way, we passed a giant statue of the Duke of Sutherland that stands on top of Ben Bhraggie near the town of Golspie. The Duke is infamous in the Highlands for the Clearances, which moved nearly Fifteen thousand tenant farmers off of the lands in order to make room for sheep, which the Duke felt would be more profitable. Brora is a classic links course, with nine holes out along the sea and nine back on the inward side. The course also has electric fences around every green to keep out the sheep. The sheep help maintain the course by keeping the rough "mowed". They are there due to ancient grazing rights that allow access to this land, but fit in with the natural feel of the course. We really enjoyed the course and since the replay rate was only $10 pounds, we went around twice. We had on and off rain, with sleet mixed in a couple of times. During the rain showers, the wind would pick up and the temperature would plummet. However, after the rain, the sun would come back out and it would be fairly comfortable. The temperatures today reached a high of about 48*.

Today we are back to Royal Dornoch and then hopefully off to do a little sightseeing in the area.



Statue of Duke of Sutherland



Brora

Machrihanish and Dunaverty

This morning after a full Scottish breakfast, which consisted of a fried egg, bacon, sausage link, two small stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, hash brown, pork and beans, and blood pudding, we were off for a full day of golf. Before I start with the golf, I know some of you have a look of horror on your face - blood pudding? Yes, it really is made of blood, but it's fried like a sausage patty. Is it good? Umm, no, not really. However, we have eaten Haggis twice and we both like it quite well. I'll let you look up what Haggis is on your own, but it has to do with sheep guts. It's quite tasty when mixed with potatoes, chicken and gravy, etc. A quick word about bacon, it isn't the same in the UK, it's better. Kind of a cross between ham and bacon. Not crispy, but very substantial. Count us as fans of this type of bacon.


Enough about food, how about the golf? Today we played two courses, Machrihanish and Dunaverty. They are pronounced "Mack-ri-han-ish" and "Done-averty". Machrihanish was redesigned by Old Tom Morris in the late 1870's, although golf was played there earlier. I'll start by saying the Machrihanish is a world class golf course and the opening nine holes are simply amazing. The back nine is very, very good, but the opening holes are just spectacular. Derek and I both played relatively well today, so that always helps your enjoyment of the course. After lunch in the Machrihanish clubhouse, we drove about 20 minutes down to Southend to play at the Dunaverty Golf Club. Dunaverty is situated right at the end of the Kintyre peninsula and on a clear day like today, you can easily see Ireland about 12 miles away. Dunaverty is a fun course to play, relatively short at 4900 yards and a par of 66, but again the scenery is magnificent. Several holes play along the ocean and the sea is always in sight. Although the day was sunny and clear, it was cooler today and the wind built all afternoon and was a "four club" wind by the time we finished. After spending all day in the wind and sun, we were ready for dinner, a shower and bed!
A quick note along that line, it's 10:45 PM as I type this and it's almost dark. It gets light again around 4:00 AM. We haven't adjusted to the time yet and are up every morning by 5:00 AM.


Derek getting ready to play a shot from the "sand"


Ireland in the distance

Machrihanish Dunes

Today (Sunday), we started out by driving north from Blackwaterfoot along the single track road that runs along the coast of Arran up to Lochranza to catch the ferry across to Kintyre. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, more beautiful scenery along the way. We arrived in Lochranza, which is situate right along the coast with a backdrop of steep mountainsides.
Lochranza

After a short half hour ferry ride, we arrived on Kintyre and again "single tracked" down along the coast and across Kintyre to Campbeltown.

Kintyre

After a quick stop at the Redknowe House to drop off our bags, we headed for our course today, Machrihanish Dunes. Machrihanish Dunes is only about a year old, and was built on a site of Special Scientific Interest, which meant that they could only level the tee boxes and do a minimal amount of work to sculpt the greens. The fairways are just as they were when they started the project. The greens had a few elephants buried underneath them, but the course is right along a beautiful stretch of beach with high dunes and we again had a great time. After the round, the fog moved in and by the time we left, the visibility was down to a few hundred yards. The fog followed us back to town and although we had dinner right along the harbor in Campbeltown, we couldn't see much of the water. Tomorrow we play at Machrihanish, which was designed by Old Tom Morris in the mid-late 1800's.

Wow!

Our flight from Philadelphia to Glasgow went without a hitch and we arrived in Scotland with all of our luggage and most importantly, our golf clubs! After picking up the rental car and immediately getting in the wrong lane pulling out of the rental car company lot, we were on our way to Ardrossan to catch the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry across to the isle of Arran. The first couple of roundabouts and the first encounters with cars coming the other way on the “wrong side” were a bit nerve racking, but we survived in fine fashion and arrived in Ardrossan without any issues. After a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up water, snacks, etc., we pulled into the ferry terminal at 8:30 AM. I had some hot tea and Derek had coffee while we waited for the ferry to arrive. The ferry was quite the ship and held several hundred people along with numerous cars, bikes, golf clubs, backpacks etc. Arran is quite the recreational destination and the ferry is the only way to get there. Plus the weather was postcard perfect and it seemed that everyone wanted out of the city and onto Arran. The ferry arrives in the town of Brodick which is situated right on the water and is very picturesque. After discovering that the main road across the island to Blackwaterfoot was closed, we took the southern route down the coast through the spectacularly situated town of Lamlash (pictured above) and across a “single track” road that cut through the mountains and came out on the far coast near Blackwaterfoot.

Between Lamlash and Blackwaterfoot

A single track road essentially means that the road is wide enough for one car, with a passing spot carved out of the hillside every couple hundred yards or so. After a few stops to take pictures, we eventually arrived at the Blackwaterfoot Inn around 12:00 noon. They were gracious enough to quickly finish our room and allow us to drop off our bags and change clothes before heading over to Shiskine Golf Club. Let me take this time to say that I am not sure there are many if any more beautiful spots on earth than the isle of Arran. Now we were there on a perfect, calm sunny day, but the pictures that I took could never do justice to the unwaveringly stark beauty of the landscape here.

Shiskine is a twelve hole course laid out right along the water and was originally designed by Willie Park and Old Tom Morris.? There are several unique holes, including #3 Crows Nest, which requires a 130 yard carry to a green set 75 yards up the side of a steep hill. The next hole then plays down off the cliff to a green set against the rocks with the sea and the Kintyre peninsula in the background. It was a fun round in a beautiful setting. What a way to start the trip!

This is the view from the 4th hole at Shishkine.

Scotland!

Well, we're off to Scotland. Derek and I leave today for 10 days of fun (but not sun!). We're off to the home of golf. Scotland is where the game of golf originated about 500 years ago, and our goal for this trip is to experience a little bit of what golf was like in the beginning. To that end, we aren't playing all of the "name" courses, but we are trying to see a lot of the country and travel to some courses that are off the beaten path a little bit. Our first stop is going to be on Isle of Arran. We will ferry across from Ardrossan and stay at the Blackwaterfoot Lodge . If we aren't too pooped from traveling, we will play a round of golf at the 12 hole Shishkine Golf Club . Sunday we will ferry across to Kintyre and play at Machrihanish Dunes (picture above).


Hopefully we will have internet access everywhere and I will be able to keep this up to date as we travel.
























Shiskine Golf Club